21 



And just very quickly, the opponents of this marking are gener- 

 ally coming from the protection of the data base that we use to es- 

 timate harvest, first, and in the negotiations between the United 

 States and Canada; and then how you share the harvests up and 

 down the coast between the various management areas in the 

 ocean. 



Mr. Hamburg. So as you see it, is the major impediment to a 

 program of marking all hatchery fish economic? 



Mr. Smith. His explanation has some validity, I would say. I am 

 not going to sit here and say it is what I would endorse. But I think 

 really it is economic. The economic, initial cost of carrying it over 

 five years, and if you do that, what don't you do in restoration. 



Now, if you do both, it is not an issue. So it is economic. 



Mr. Hamburg. If you have the money to do both, then you could 

 support going ahead with the program, marking all hatchery fish? 



Mr. Smith. I am better willing to support it, but I still want to 

 know why better than I have heard today. That is my position. 



Mr. Hamburg. I think one of the major reasons is to make the — 

 is to create a harvestable number of fish where you are trying to 

 protect the native stock such as in the Klamath. 



Mr. Smith. Based on what I heard today, it gives more flexibility 

 and that is good. So, the answer to your question is yes, but I would 

 rather put money in restoration. 



Mr. Hamburg. Thank you. 



Mr. Manton. If you have more questions, you can have more 

 time. 



Mr. Hamburg. If any other panelists wanted to talk about mark- 

 ing issues, it is one that we are really working on in my office right 

 now, because two straight years of shutdown of the north coast 

 salmon fisheries — so I am very interested in this issue. If anyone 

 else wants to comment. 



Mr. Moyer. I would just briefly say we would strongly support as 

 much marking as possible for the reasons that Mr. Shake gave. I 

 think it really gives you more flexibility and, in this case, flexibil- 

 ity is useful because it will better enable you to selectively harvest 

 hatchery fish and stay off the wild ones. 



As you know, especially in the Pacific coast and off the Oregon 

 coast, the wild fish and hatchery fish mix and some of the harvest 

 regimes off the Pacific coast are not adequately selective, from our 

 point of view, to protect wild fish. So there is a strong need to 

 mark fish for those situations. 



Mr. Hamburg. Anyone else want to comment? OK. Thank you, 

 Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Manton. Well, that looks like we have come to the end of 

 the hearing. I want to thank everybody for coming, some of you 

 some long distances, and the meeting is adjourned. 



[Whereupon, at 3:00 p.m., the Subcommittees were adjourned, 

 and the following was submitted for the record:] 



